AV 140: 50 SMALL WORKS

Description

Minimum scale and maximum intention: such is the guiding thread of the works gathered here. The small scale has always been a good field for architectural experimentation, leaving many masterpieces over the course of history. Each mutation of intentions or language has been tested before with designs of limited size: often with small constructions, but also with ephemeral installations, manifesto-like furniture pieces, programmatic interiors, interventions on the landscape or gardens that are abridged architectures. From the exquisite Tempietto of San Pietro in Montorio to the many pavilions of modernity, the tiny work – often also with a diminutive name – is sometimes an excercise for the large scale, but frequently also a piece of intrinsic value. The same-scale comparison of a pillar of Saint Peter’s Basilica, by Bramante and Michelangelo. with the full floor plan of San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane, the church of Borromini that the Romans call San Carlino, shows that limited dimensions are never an obstacle for artistic greatness.
On the other hand, the small scale brings along a more economical use of scarce material and energy resources, so it seems more in tune with the need to intervene lightly in a fragile planet, subjected to the abrasion of excess and squander. The counterculture of the seventies – to which we often look to in search of inspiration, after the devastating experience of several bulimic decades – expressed this attitude adopting the motto of E.F. Schumacher, ‘small is beautiful’. In the banner of that generation one could hear the echoes of the linguistic reductionism of the avant-garde and of its desire to address the needs of the majority – from ‘less is more’ to ‘existenzminimum’–, but filtered through a new ecological ethic of libertarian flavor, which tried to make the iron law of enthropy compatible with the impulses of a libidinal economy. Then as now, small was beautiful because it gave up the superfluous, but also because it allowed surviving on the edges of a system based on hyperconsumption, to pursue the intimate utopias of the law of desire.
The current economic crisis, which especially affects our country, the younger generation and construction, prompts to map the scenarios that can help us face this perfect storm, undoubtedly the most devastating we have experienced since the birth of this magazine, twenty-five years ago now. With this issue we close our anniversary year, and we have wanted to mark the date with fifty minimal works that may serve as an example and stimulus for the young architects that begin their professional itinerary in an environment of extreme difficulty and uncertainty. The works are presented in ten chapters, and each one of them starts with a small work by a major architect, seeking the help of history to build a story of optimism and hope. Small can be big if material size does not limit the breadth of ambition, the intensity of effort and the height of excellence: these minimal architectures are maximum works, because our discipline is, like Leonardo famously said of painting, una cosa mentale, and its beauty rests in its intelligence. (by Luis Fernández-Galiano)

CONTENTS

• Luis Fernández-Galiano: More in Less

Miradors: Landscape

• Astearchitecture: Viewing Platform, Tyrol, Austria
• Ateliereen Architecten: Lookout Tower, Reusel, The Netherlands
• Architektur & Landschaft: Observation Tower, Brandenburg, Germany
• 70ºN arkitektur: Rest Area, Torvdalshalsen, Norway
• Guallart Architects: Microcoasts in Vinarós, Valencia, Spain

Classrooms: Education

• Pasi Aalto: Soe Ker Tie Orphanage, Noh Bo, Thailand
• Haugen Zohar Arkitekter: Kindergarten Classroom, Trondheim, Norway
• Li Xiaodong Atelier: Bridge School, Fujian, China
• Pascale de Tourdonnet/L’Atelier Provisoire: Classroom-Workshop, Bordeaux, France
• Karo Architekten: Open-Air Library, Magdeburg, Germany

Chapels: Worship

• Luís Ferreira Rodrigues: St. Columbina Chapel, Gimonde, Portugal
• Beton: Wooden Church, Tarnów, Poland
• Kunze Seeholzer: Chapel of St. Benedict, Kolbermoor, Germany
• Estudiantes del IIT de Chicago: Field Chapel, Bödigheim, Germany
• Moorhead & Moorhead: Mobile Chapel, Fargo, United States

Galleries: Art

• Antonio Jiménez Torrecillas: Granary in Huescar, Granada, Spain
• studioMAS: Circa Art Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa
• Hooper & m3architecture: Memorial to a Tree, Barcaldine, Australia
• Yasutaka Yoshimura: Exhibition Container, Tokyo, Japan
• Elisa Valero Ramos: Art Space in the Mountains, Madrid, Spain

Stations: Journey

• Netzwerk Architekten: Transport Interchange, Darmstadt, Germany
• Form-Art: Parking Deck, Linz,Austria
• Baumschlager Eberle: Pier, Fussach, Austria
• Subarquitectura: Tram Stop, Alicante, Spain
• L3P Architekten: Bicycle Parking, Zurich, Switzerland

Pavilions: Exhibition

• SANAA: Serpentine Gallery Pavilion, London, United Kingdom
• Zaha Hadid: Chanel Art Pavilion, New York, United States
• UNStudio: Burnham Pavilion, Chicago, United States
• OMA/AMO: Transformer Pavilion for Prada, Seoul, South Korea
• Tezuka Architects: Wooden Pavilion, Ninotaira, Japan

Studios: Work

• Valerio Olgiati: Atelier Bardill, Scharans, Switzerland
• Piet Hein Eek: Studio for a Musician, Hilversum, The Netherlands
• Selgas & Cano: Architecture Studio, Madrid, Spain
• dmvA: Mobile Office, Belgium
• Korteknie & Stuhlmacher: Studio for Artists, Utrecht, The Netherlands

Shelters: Dwelling

• Ensamble Studio: House on the Death Coast, Galicia, Spain
• Sanei Hopkins Architects: Mobile Home, Suffolk, United Kingdom
• Sou Fujimoto Cabaña: Wooden Hut, Kumamoto, Japan
• Bearth & Deplazes/ETH Zürich: Monte Rosa Shelter, Valais, Switzerland
• Baumraum: Treehouse, Osnabrück, Germany

Facilities: Leisure

• Julien Boidot: Summer Campground, Vaas, France
• DJ Arquitectura: Public Swimming Pool, Granada, Spain
• Group 8: Aviary, Geneva, Switzerland
• Pacific Environments Architects: Restaurant, Warkworth, New Zealand
• White Arkitekter: Bathing Platform, Kastrup, Copenhagen

Kiosks: Commerce

• Wellmann Ladinger: Shack on the Staufensee, Dornbirn, Austria
• Spillmann Echsle Architekten: Freitag Shop, Zürich, Switzerland
• Brut Deluxe: Kiosk m.poli, Madrid, Spain
• Topos Architecture: Fast Food Stall, Saint-Nazaire, France
• Satoshi Ohtaki/Wood Program: Ice Cream Stand, Hanko, Finland

134 pages, color ills / 24 x 30 cm / Spanish, English